Background:
Schools are in a unique position to provide physical activity opportunities before, during and after the school day. Increasing physical activity among school-age children requires school leaders to take a comprehensive and coordinated approach, ideally informed by evidence-based strategies. School board members play an important role in providing physical activity opportunities through the adoption, monitoring and evaluation of local board policies. The purpose of this project is to support school board members in improving opportunities for physical activity in California schools.
“Strengthening Physical Activity and Physical Education in Schools” is a joint project of The California School Boards Association (CSBA) and California Project LEAN (Leaders Encouraging Activity and Nutrition) (CPL), funded by The California Endowment (TCE). This project builds upon CSBA and CPL’s multi-year partnership utilizing policy tools, community mobilization, marketing and trainings to educate school decision-makers on the critical link between health and academic achievement.
Objectives:
This presentation will highlight CSBA and CPL’s partnership to address the barriers and opportunities that school districts face in establishing and sustaining improved physical activity and physical education (P.E.) for California students. School board members identified useful resources, trainings and materials relevant to developing collaborative and comprehensive approaches to strengthen physical activity in schools.
Methods:
CSBA and CPL developed an environmental scan of current physical activity and P.E. resources and created a statewide advisory group of key stakeholders to ensure coordination and collaboration of statewide efforts to increase school-based physical activity. The advisory group brought together leaders working to improve physical activity in California schools from organizations including government health and education departments, universities, the state legislature, state and community initiatives, as well as school administrators, the teachers association, teacher credentialing commission and physical educators.
A school board survey was developed based on formative research, and also informed by a systematic review of evidence-based strategies and prioritized policy recommendations for improving P.E. conducted as part of a previous TCE-funded project. The survey, “Physical Activity and Physical Education in California Schools,” provided quantitative and qualitative data about what school districts need to move forward with adopting, implementing, monitoring and evaluating policies to improve physical activity in the school setting.
Results:
In January 2009, an online survey was sent to 2,669 California school board members, yielding 339 responses for a response rate of 13 percent. Response rates were affected by an unforeseen budget crisis in California schools competing for board members’ immediate attention. The survey data included responses from districts of various sizes and income levels in every CSBA region in California.
Key findings:
School board members held a prevailing belief that physical activity positively impacts a variety of student health and academic outcomes. Over 90% of respondents indicated that physical activity has a moderate to high positive impact on student fitness levels, academic performance and lifetime physical activity behaviors.
Board members identified superintendents, principals and P.E. teachers as the top three school stakeholders that influence district decision-making about physical activity and P.E. Respondents identified three barriers as being significant challenges to addressing physical activity and P.E. at the district level: impact on the budget, limited time in a school day and competing district priorities.
The top board policy opportunities for addressing physical activity and P.E. that emerged include:
• Ensure students engage in moderate to vigorous physical activity 50% of P.E. time
• Have a system to monitor compliance with state-required P.E. instructional minutes
• Provide focused, ongoing professional development for all teachers who instruct P.E.
• Ensure all elementary school students have at least 20 minutes of daily supervised recess
• Integrate physical activity into the classroom by establishing physical activity breaks during class or adopting physically active teaching materials
• Support safe walking, bicycling and other active transport to/from school
• Support access to indoor and outdoor physical activity facilities outside school hours
• Integrate physical activity into before/after school programs and activities
The majority of respondents indicated that case studies of other successful school districts, cost-benefit analyses of policies, and research on the link between physical activity and academic performance would help them address physical activity and P.E. in their district.
Conclusions:
The results of the formative research and survey contributed to the development of board policy opportunities addressed in school district governance trainings, policy briefs, sample policies and other communication pieces. Expected outcomes from trainings and resources provided to California school board members include: elevated importance of physical activity and P.E.; stronger evidence and tools to improve physical activity and P.E. in schools; and an increased number of school districts establishing policies and improving implementation and monitoring of existing policies to support physical activity and P.E. This project illustrates how state-level health and education organizations can partner to engage school leaders in implementing effective strategies to improve school-based physical activity.
Support:
This project is funded by The California Endowment.
